Annual Lottery/Licensing Statistics Overviews

2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021

---

2023 Lotteries/Licensing Statistics

The number of deer gun licenses made available to hunters over time:

• 2016 – 49,000 deer gun licenses
• 2017 – 54,500 deer gun licenses
• 2018 – 55,150 deer gun licenses
• 2019 – 65,500 deer gun licenses
• 2020 – 69,050 deer gun licenses
• 2021 – 72,200 deer gun licenses
• 2022 – 64,200 deer gun licenses
• 2023 – 53,400 deer gun licenses

After 11,810 resident gratis licenses and 534 nonresident licenses were subtracted from the overall license allocation, just 21,460 buck licenses were available for the 61,914 hunters who applied for them as their first choice in the lottery.

2023 Lottery Stats

Deer

• 75,117 – Number of people – not including 12,085 gratis applicants – who applied for deer gun lottery licenses, down from 76,783 in 2022.
• 42.65 – Percent of successful applicants, excluding gratis and nonresidents, for deer gun and muzzleloader licenses.
• 20 – Maximum number of bonus points for any applicant (nonresident mule deer buck applicants).
• 12,520 – Applicants with four or more bonus points.
• 13.74 – Percent of applicants with four or more bonus points.
• 53.35 – Percent of applicants with four or more bonus points who applied for a muzzleloader buck license.

Turkey

• 7,412 – Number of spring turkey licenses available to hunters, down from 7,647 in 2022.
• 84.6 – Percent of successful applicants for the spring season.
• 81.8 – Percent of applicants who received their first license choice for the spring season.
• 4,435 – Number of fall turkey licenses available, up from 3,975 in 2022.
• 72.3 – Percent of successful applicants for the fall season.
• 70.8 – Percent of applicants who received their first license choice for the fall season.

Pronghorn

• 8 – Number of hunting units open in a limited pronghorn season.
• 420 – Number of licenses available to hunters, down 1,550 from 2022.
• 9,375 – Number of people who applied for available licenses, down 6,306 from 2022.

---

2022 Lotteries/Licensing Overview

Other

• 2,639 Number of sharptailed grouse counted on spring dancing grounds, down from 3,281 in 2021.
• 22% The decline in roosters heard crowing during the Department’s spring pheasant crowing count compared to 2021.
• 800,000 Approximate number of PLOTS acres on the landscape in 2022.
• 81,000 Number of Canada geese counted during the Department's midwinter waterfowl survey.
• 7.4 million Number of private land acres electronically posted.
• 1.8 million Approximate number of chinook salmon eggs collected during the Department's annual salmon spawn.
• 60 lbs. 8 oz Weight of new bow/spear state record buffalo taken by Mitch Estabrook from Heart Butte Reservoir.
• 70 million Approximate number of walleye eggs collected in spring, surpassing the goal of 58 million eggs

2021 Lotteries/Licensing Overview

The number of deer gun licenses made available to hunters increased again in 2021:

• 2016 – 49,000 deer gun licenses.
• 2017 – 54,500 deer gun licenses.
• 2018 – 55,150 deer gun licenses.
• 2019 – 65,500 deer gun licenses.
• 2020 – 69,050 deer gun licenses.
• 2021 – 72,200 deer gun licenses.

Drawing a buck license in 2021 was, like most years, not easy. Randy Meissner, Game and Fish Department licensing manager, said after 11,811 resident gratis licenses and 722 nonresident licenses were subtracted from the overall license allocation, just 31,160 buck licenses were available for the 66,591 hunters who applied for them as their first choice in the lottery.

2021 LOTTERY STATS

DEER

• 79,857 – Number of people – not including 12,113 gratis applicants – who applied for deer gun lottery licenses, down from 79,999 in 2020.
• 52.98 – Percent of successful applicants, excluding gratis and nonresidents, for deer gun and muzzleloader licenses.
• 19 – Maximum number of bonus points for any applicant (nonresident mule deer buck applicants).
• 12,636 – Applicants with four or more bonus points.
• 13.59 – Percent of applicants with four or more bonus points.
• 50.83 – Percent of applicants with four or more bonus points who applied for a muzzleloader buck license.

TURKEY

• 7,012 – Number of spring turkey licenses available to hunters, up from 6,237 in 2020.
• 76.5 – Percent of successful applicants for the spring season.
• 74.2 – Percent of applicants who received their first license choice for the spring season.
• 3,825 – Number of fall turkey licenses available, up from 3,785 in 2020.
• 69.8 – Percent of successful applicants for the fall season.
• 65.7 – Percent of applicants who received their first license choice for the fall season.

PRONGHORN

• 15 – Number of hunting units open in a limited pronghorn season.
• 1,720 – Number of licenses available to hunters, down 75 from 2020.
• 15,405 – Number of people who applied for available licenses, up 86 from 2020.